Heat-exchange apparatus



Oct. 12 1926.

1,602,808 E. P. BURNHAM HEAT EXCHANGE APPARATUS Filed August 10, 1920 Patented Oct. 12,1926.

UNITED STATES 1,602,808 PATENT OFFICE,

ELIBRIDGE PALMER BURN'EAM,

OF NEW YORK, 1\T. Y1, ASSIGNOR TO THE ALVEY-FER- GUSON' COMPANY, 01' OAKLEY, CINCINNATI, OHIOQA CORPORATION OF OHIO.

' HEAT-EXCHANGE APPARATUS Application fled August 10, 1920. Serial No. 402,519

This invention relates to a heat exchange apparatus, and more particularly to an aplparatus for handling articles which mus e given-a temperature treatment in the 5 course of manufacture by (passing the same through a heated or coo e chamber.

It has always been a problem in such apparatus to prevent the escape of the heated air from heating or drying ovens, or the inrush of heated air into cooled chambers when the articles to be treated were introduced or removed from the oven or chamber.

My invention has for its object to overcome this difliculty, and to provide anagparatus which will reduce to a minimum t e oss from these causes, and it is equally applicable to the handling of articles which are heated or dried in ovens, as painted-or enameled goods as to the handling of articles to be cooled, as cand and rubber mixtures. The particular a aptation, which I have selected for the pur ose of illustratin my invention, is the ban ling of tubes, suc

6 as are used for tooth paste, soaps, etc., just after they have been ithographed and before the ends are closed oil, when they must be slowly dried to prevent crackin or peal- -ing. The present method of hamfiing such articles is to place them upon racks and leave them in a heated room for at heat twelte hours.

My invention consists broadl in the provision of a heated or cooled c amber with a tunnel entrance combined with an article carrier adapted to traverse the tunneland chamber and provided with means for closing the tunnel while the carrier is passing therethrough. More particularl the invention consists of a heated or coo ed chamber with a tunnel entrance and exit combined with article carriers which are provided with walls or end boards of dimensions approximating those of the cross sectional area of the tunnels, and in the provision of means for aiding the passage of the carriers through the tunnels and chamber.

Other ob'ects and advantages of the invention wi hereinafter appear in the following detailed description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of an oven with a portion of the entrance tunnel broken away to show the article car- .long enough to receive a p uralit riers passing throu h is a cross section t rough one end of the oven, and Figure 3 is a perspective of one form of carrier; which may be used with my invention;

Like parts are indicatedby like reference numerals. throughout the several figures of the drawing.

The numeral 10 illustrates an oven, which maybe of any length required for the heating of articles to be treated. At either end of said oven is an elongated. passage forming a tunnel; 11 indicates the entrance tun' nel while 12 indicates the exit tunnel. These tunnels are usually of a cross sectional area considerably less than that of the oven and relatively on as compared with their height or widt Preferabl they aremade of article carriers, which are introduce into the entrance tunnel from a table 14 and are de= livered from the exit tunnel upon a table 15.

It is advantageous to provide meansfor advancing the carriers and their contents through the tunnels and chamber at a re lated speed and a desirable means for ti i purpose comprises a conveyer 16 of the endess belt or endlessapron type, which passes through the'tunnels 11 and 12 and the chamber 10. Said conve er is driven at any suitable speed deman ed' by the treatment of the articles handled, and it rests upon the rollers 17, 17, which have been mounted in recesses within theoven for the purpose of permitting the conveyer to travel close to the bottom of the tunnels and heated chamber. The end rollers 19, 19, are mounted upon any suitable support and constitute the means through which the conveyer is driven. The conveyer belt is of a width the same; Figure 2 sh htly less than that of the tunnels in or erfto pass easily therethrough. The oven is provided with any suitable heating means, but as shown the coil 20 has been deemed sufiicient for the purposes of illustration.

The article carriers may be of any suitable form' to conform to the slze and shape of the tunnels and should have means for roperly supporting the articular article to Be treated and essential there is provided a tunnel closure mem er or members travelling with the carrier. The form of carrier selected for illustration is shown in Figure 1 and consists of a base 21 with end boards or walls 22, 22. The base is of a width to neat- 1y fit within the tunnels of the oven while the walls of the carrier have a width and height corresponding to that of the tunnels. The case of the carrier is provided with spikes or other retaining devices for supporting the articles to be treated in the oven.

In the form of carrier shown in Figure 3, one of the end boards or walls has been omitted. It is in all other respects similar to that shown in Figure 1.

In the use of the invention, the carriers are fed into the tunnel 11 and as the Walls or end boards thereof are approximately of the same cross sectional area as the tunnel, it will be seen that no considerable leakage of heated air can occur. It is advantageous to have more than a single carrier in the tunnel at a time in order to provide a plurality of tunnel closing walls to more effectively prevent the escape of air from the oven. A preliminary treatment of the article will take place within the tunnel, but the main treatment of the articles takes place while the carrier is passing across the ody of the oven. ported in their travel through the tunnel and the oven upon the conveyer 16. As the articles leave the oven, a gradual change in temperature takes place while passing through the tunnel. This is very advantageous with some articles which have to be cooled slowly. The delivery of the carriers from the oven through the exit tunnel also tends to conserve the heat within the oven by providing walls which will prevent the outrush of the air from the oven.

It will be seen that I have provided an apparatus which will effectively conserve the heat of an article treating chamber and avoid the loss of heat energy heretofore experienced in chambers of this type when the article carrier was introduced into or elivered therefrom. While I have shown and described my invention in connection with an oven, it will be understood that it is just as a plicable to any heat exchange chamber, as or instance, in connection with a refrigerating chamber, in which there'is a cooling coil and in which the articles are The carriers are supcooled or chilled. The apparatus may also be used for treating articles in a wet or dry air or gas bath.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a heat exchange apparatus, the combination of a treating chamber having an elongated passage forming a tunnel entrance thereto, an article carrier movable into said chamber through said tunnel, and means carried by said carrier for closing said tunnel throughout the travel of the carrier therethrough. 4

' 2. In a heat exchange apparatus, the combination of a treating chamber having elongated passages respectively forming an entrance tunnel and an'exit tunnel, an article carrier movable into and out of said chamber through said tunnels and carr ing means for closing said tunnels throug out the travel of the carrier therethrough, and means for conveying a plurality of carriers through said chamber and tunnels.

3. In a heat exchange apparatus, the combination of a treating chamber having an elongated passage connected thereto, means for carrying articles between said chamber and the outside through said elongated passage, partitions on the carrying means for closing the passage, the passage being longer than the distance betwen the partitions.

4. In a heat exchange apparatus, the combination of a treating chamber having elongated passages respectively forming an entrance tunnel and an exit tunnel, a series of article carriers for passing through said entrance tunnel, through said chamber and through said exit tunnel, said carriers being of less length than the tunnels and provided with partition members of a shape corresponding with the cross section of the tunnels, whereby the tunnels are completely closed while the carriers are movin therethrough, and means for conveying 319, carriers through said tunnels and chamber.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

ELBRIDGE PALMER BURNHAM. 

